


watch your back (gasoline)

by sunflower_8



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe: Non-Despair AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Assassins, Death, F/M, Fire, Innuendo, M/M, Mystery, Oops, Panic Attacks, Paranoia, Poison, Trust Issues, i feel like i have more tags but i forgot them, mafia, murder attempts, rantaro is a business man, shuichi is a soft boi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 22:24:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19450666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflower_8/pseuds/sunflower_8
Summary: wash your sins in fire or blood





	watch your back (gasoline)

on most days, rantaro amami will either wake up to his maid and cook, kirumi tojo and teruteru hanamura, bringing him breakfast; a million stacks of paperwork to look over; or a day where everything is at peace.

today, when rantaro amami woke up at 5:15 AM, he was greeted with a knife that missed his cheek by an inch.

immediately, panic struck him, and he jolted out of bed. he accidentally hit his hand on his bed’s headboard, but hardly felt the pain. if anything, it was stabilizing. he gave himself a few seconds to process the situation:

_ it’s too early for this what the hell who would try to kill me (besides a lot of people) why did they only threaten me, not kill me, and why is that scarier how did they even get here how- _

rantaro decided the next course of action was to examine the weapon. with immense caution, he pulled the knife out of the mattress and inspected it. there were no markings on it, and any identification on the hilt showing it was part of a mafia, like the kuzuryuu family’s symbol, was absent.

after a few minutes had passed, and rantaro took a few breaths, he began to rationally consider why, or more importantly,  _ who, _ put a knife in his bed.

due to a series of stupid events and mistakes, rantaro amami lost his sisters amongst every continent. for years, he was told that the should simply give up on trying to find them. however, only a year ago, rantaro, with the help of his close friend and detective, shuichi saihara, and another well known detective, kyoko kirigiri, had managed to find all his sisters.

the joy of the amami family being restored was obvious. the guilt that inhibited rantaro faded away, and seeing his sisters again was what he used to think was impossible. the quiet amami home was filled with laughter and stories being shared about the places the sisters had been. everything was finally okay, after years of rantaro desperately trying to fix what he messed up.

everything was okay.

however, other people didn’t seem to see this as a cause of celebration. 

instead, it was a clear incentive to put a target on rantaro’s back.

along with envy for his wealth, many people who had known rantaro’s sisters when they had been lost wanted to have them back. suddenly, he was being blamed for destroying relationships and families, just because he had fixed his own.

a few months after rantaro’s last sister was found, the amami family decided to host a celebration, inviting everyone they knew. 

the party was going well, but, as the food was served along with drinks, rantaro took a bite only to realize his food was poisoned. 

thankfully, he survived, but the culprit was never found. after that, he determined that living by himself, with a few helpers as exceptions, would be necessary to keep his family safe.

after that occurrence, a few other attempts on his life were made, but were never as severe as that. despite being seemingly safe, rantaro was still distrustful of everyone except a few. he stopped having parties after the poison incident occurred, and the only people he truly trusted were shuichi, kirumi, and teruteru.

as he stared at the knife again, rantaro realized that all his fears were probably justified.

god. 

deciding to leave the knife in a bedside drawer, he began to move towards the only possible entrance to his chamber besides his bedroom door: the balcony. it was difficult to see much, as the sun had not yet risen, but rantaro knew it would have been difficult for anybody to scale up to the balcony, since it was three stories up. however, it was obviously possible. 

then he noticed that the glass doors were not broken, but the doors were most certainly unlocked.

rantaro realized then that he is trembling. taking a deep breath, rantaro faked a smile and left his room, greeting kirumi with the same light-heartedness as he does every day.

after all, it was only one attempt.

* * *

after rantaro found the knife in his bed, he had prayed that was the end of it. of course, it was still concerning, whether it was a long ordeal or a singular event, but rantaro figured it wasn’t enough to bother shuichi, despite shuichi being both his friend and an accomplished detective, and so rantaro kept it under wraps.

besides, he had better things to focus on. rantaro had a business meeting to attend with his father and the oldest of his sisters, suki. 

after rantaro lost her in new york city, her ‘parents’ at the time changed her name to ella. however, after being reunited with her family, ella decided that she should go by her birth name, as did most of the other sisters who got different names.

rantaro had a feeling that suki’s ‘parents’ were definitely after him.

he had to stop himself from overthinking, and refocus his mind on the meeting.

he actually had no specific idea about what the business meeting would entail, but he had to go, whether he wanted to or not. thankfully, rantaro didn’t need to hire any bodyguards, since his father and suki would accompany him with theirs.

at 7:00 sharp, kirumi handed rantaro his coat before sending him off to his father’s fancy car.

surprisingly, this was the first meeting rantaro had attended in the longest time that wasn’t in a different country. the three amamis travelled in a helicopter for a brief half hour before arriving at a corporate building. it was unfamiliar to rantaro, but the togami family had chosen it, so it must be adequate for them to discuss important matters.

at arrival, the members of the families attended the meeting greeted them formally and welcomed them inside. rantaro shook hands with byakuya togami, kissed the hand of princess sonia nevermind, and waved at kokichi ouma (who was attending this meeting alone, as he had no family involved in his endeavors).

he went into an elevator to go to the sixth floor, where he was joined by another member of the togami family, who stood in silence as the elevator rose. when the doors opened, rantaro was greeted by a long oak table with graphs already displayed and a plethora of servants with food and drinks.

one of the servants offered rantaro a drink of red wine, which he gladly accepted. deciding that etiquite was of the utmost importance here, he waited for everyone to arrive and sit at the long table before doing anything else. suki sat down on his right, giving him a small smile, while ouma settled on his left.

“hey, you’re rantaro, riiiight?” ouma enthusiastically whispered, despite the fact that most people were mingling loudly at the moment, exchanging formalities and small talk.

“correct.”

“woah! i’m seated next to an amami! i’m famous! that’s a lie, i’m kokichi ouma, i already was! or maybe that’s a lie, and i’m not actually kokichi ouma. my name is dave thompson, pleased to meet ya!” the words and lies flowed out extremely quickly, but rantaro already knew ouma was eccentric, despite being great at business.

“hey, amami, do you mind if i try your drink?” rantaro raised his eyebrow, so ouma continued, “well, i would ask for some red wine, but the servants seem busy and i’d feel realllllllly bad distracting them.”

“well, i suppose-”

“thanks, rantaro!” with the same excessive energy he had maintained throughout the conversation, kokichi took a small sip out of rantaro’s wine glass…

… and immediately started coughing.

“ouma?! are you alright?” rantaro froze in shock as ouma stood up shakily. 

he coughed again into his arm, and when he lowered it back down, it was covered in blood.

“oh my god!” princess nevermind shrieked, grabbing onto her mother’s arm.

“who is responsible for this?” byakuya togami said coolly, whilst his sister began interrogating the servants.

“i wasn’t in charge of the drinks, ma’am!” one of the butlers said, panic-stricken.

“i don’t know anything, ms. togami! please, i’m innocent!” one of the girls cried. rantaro realized seconds later that this was the girl who had brought him his drink. her soft teal eyes were tearing up, though, and rantaro would feel bad accusing her.

“what’s going on?” rantaro’s father said, addressing rantaro with poorly masked fear.

ouma, along with the guests not involved with questioning the staff, rushed out of the room. suki and rantaro’s father looked at rantaro with concern on their faces.

“ouma, for… for some reason, asked if he could try my drink. i let him, and…” by now, the other guests and servants were looking at him.

suddenly, the realization hit rantaro. his face paled, and he said to a silent room, “he drank poison. my drink was poisoned.”

and, like most parties rantaro used to throw, the atmosphere grew heavy. everyone’s eyes were dark. silence filled the room.

_ then the silence was replaced with mayhem. _

* * *

“hello, rantaro, is something the matter?”

“n-nothing’s wrong, shuichi. just wondering if you have any more… developments in the case.”

“you’re breathing heavily, rantaro, and stuttering, which you never do. what’s wrong?”

“nothing-”

“i know that’s a lie.”

“nothing is wrong, shuichi! i’m asking about the damn case!”

“...”

“i’m… i’m sorry shuichi, i’m just… stressed.”

“it’s alright. i would be too, in your shoes. regardless, you can trust me, yeah?”

“...”

“anyway, there’s no new updates on the investigation. i think i’m getting close to something, though.”

“thank you.”

“i’ll call you if anything comes up.”

“of course. bye.”

“bye.”

the second shuichi hung up, rantaro dropped the phone. it hit the hardwood floor with a noise that resonated in his ears. he took a shallow breath, placing his hands on the vanity in front of him to steady himself.

very slowly, he raised his eyes to the mirror in front of him, his body shaking.

there were three words, written in haphazard yet neat handwriting with a black sharpie:

WATCH YOUR BACK.

* * *

“rantaro, think about what you’re doing. nobody would be mad if you cancelled-”

“i have to do this, shuichi,” rantaro briefly stopped pacing to look at him, “someone is trying to kill me, and i need to find them.”

“they only targeted you at the meeting, though. they may not know where you live?”

for any normal person, they would mention that the person (or people) behind this very clearly knew where he lived, and also how to get into his bedroom. but, rantaro figured that if he mentioned that he withheld this information from shuichi  _ now _ , he would probably get slapped in the face.

“rantaro?” shuichi’s words jolted him out of his thoughts.

“ah, sorry.”

shuichi just sighed, “it’s in ten minutes, if you call it off, nobody would-”

the doorbell rang, prompting another sigh from shuichi, “but of course, kaede comes ten minutes early.”

rantaro smirked and opened the door, only to be immediately tackled in a hug from kaede.

“hey, kaede!”

“rantaro! it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other!”

“yeah.”

“i mean, i know that having people over isn’t exactly…” 

“right,” fortunately, kaede (and hopefully the other guests) knew about what happened with the poisoned drink, since ouma, a well known figure, had to go to the hospital for it. when rantaro checked up on him, ouma said he was okay, but that might have been a lie. regardless, he’s still alive, which was more than rantaro was expecting.

“anywho, where’s the baby grand? i missed it so much!” the question was clearly rhetorical, and kaede skipped to the exact place it’s always been. piano music filled the room only seconds later.

having seen kaede rush past the kitchen, teruteru stepped out with a messy apron and a dirty grin (the usual). he gave a nod of acknowledgement to shuichi, before addressing rantaro, “that’s kaede akamatsu! famous pianist, and extremely attractive. do you mind if you, y’know, get us acquainted?”

“she’s lesbian,” shuichi deadpanned.

“a-ah. i see.” teruteru returned to the kitchen after that. rantaro put a hand over his mouth in an attempt to stifle his giggle, but it was futile. 

shuichi looked at him, a grin on his face, “well, that was interesting.”

after kaede’s appearance, other guests slowly started coming in. ibuki excitedly came in, carrying an electric guitar and amp with help from nekomaru nidai, a fitness trainer and acquaintance. only a few minutes later, mikan tsumiki walked in, nervously chattering and giving shuichi, rantaro, and kirumi (who had brought out drinks) hugs. a few seconds later, rantaro heard her trip and squeal, presumably in a slightly promiscuous way.

when kirumi asked if she should go help, rantaro laughed and said it was practically tradition.

after some time, kaito showed up with a girl at his side, “hey man! this is my girl, maki roll-”

“just maki. maki harukawa,” she said quietly.

“i figured you wouldn’t mind if i brought her along, yeah?”

rantaro suppressed any paranoia rising up in his chest as he reminded both kaito and himself that rantaro and maki used to attend high school together. kaito claimed he knew that, and patted the other on the shoulder before going to find shuichi, who had moved to listen to kaede.

after a while, everyone had arrived, totalling to around thirty people. for a while, everyone spent time grabbing drinks and chatting. rantaro was careful to choose to drink water. 

soon enough, though, he heard ibuki yell, “who is ready for some music!”

most people cheered, but rantaro could hear a faint “oh god” from shuichi.

at first, it was just ibuki playing some original songs. rantaro had adjusted to the loud noise of her music after a while (it wasn’t that bad once you get used to it), but he saw kirumi grimace and shuichi jump so violently he almost fell out of his chair. mikan seemed to know the words and, surprisingly, sang with the same level of angst and aggression in her voice as ibuki.

rantaro imagined mikan as a punk rocker, and chiaki nanami, an old friend of his, asked him why he was laughing so hard.

everyone’s hearts thumped to the beat of the music, and kaede even chipped in on playing an accompiant on the piano. the two instruments clashed, but the combination was somehow still melodic. sayaka maizono, who came to the party late due to a meeting, was singing beautifully to each song.

the air was vibrant and light-hearted, and everyone seemed to be having a nice time. rantaro happily sighed, content with everything that has happened, when-

“rantaro! look out!”

rantaro didn’t recognize that voice. he had greeted every guest, and nobody talked like that: high pitched and almost cartoon-ish. he looked around in confusion, before he saw  _ it _ .

an arrow, razor sharp and flying perfectly straight, missed rantaro’s skull by an inch and implanted itself in the wall behind ibuki.

as if she was already prepared, maki jumped up and ran in the direction the arrow came from, followed by kaito and nekomaru. shuichi rushed over to rantaro, asking if he was hurt. kirumi’s eyes widened, and she set the drink platter down. teruteru, along with the girl he was flirting with, screamed and clung to each other instinctively. 

everyone was screaming and shouting and shrieking and  _ it was so fucking loud. _

“aah! rantaro-san!”

“is he okay?”

“i didn’t hear anything over ibuki, what’s going on?”

“where the hell did maki and kaito go?”

“i think they’re looking for the one who shot it!”

“rantaro, what-”

suddenly, rantaro felt sick and his head began to pound. the colors around him spiked in saturation and everything blurred into figures as his gaze focused on the arrow. he almost died,  _ he almost died _ , but wasn’t this what he wanted? he threw the party hoping to figure out who it was.

_ i don’t want to die i don’t want to die who shot it who here can i not trust who who who _

his breaths turned to gasps as the voices around him increased in volume. rantaro could hear his heartbeat in the room, irregularly beating, but at least he still  _ had  _ a heartbeat.

at that thought, his eyes glazed over in tears and he covered his face with his hands.

“are you-”

“what just-”

someone tried to touch his shoulder, and he flinched before the fingers made any contact.

“he’s having a panic attack,” shuichi shouted, more authoritative than he’s ever been, “everyone, back up!”

the mayhem didn’t stop at that, of course, but the guests seemed to get the message. kirumi rushed people outside-- voice calm but a worried expression-- and kaede moved next to shuichi as he tried to calm rantaro down.

“rantaro, everything is okay. breathe with me, okay? can you hear me?” rantaro nodded weakly, “good. i promise you, maki is going to find the person who did it, and-”

“we can’t find them!” maki ran into the room. kaito came in right behind her, stopping to catch his breath.

“sorry, sidekick,” kaito breathed, “they moved way too fast, and they had a hood covering their face-”

“oh god,” kaede gasped.

maki bit her nail, her eyes defeated, “what should we do?”

“e-everyone, leave. p-please,” rantaro mumbled quietly.

kaito opened his mouth to protest, but maki grabbed his hand and gestured at kaede for them to leave. shuichi started to stand up, but rantaro desperately seized his arm, hoping that would indicate that rantaro needed him to stay. at this point, shuichi was the only person he truly trusted.

instead of judging rantaro for acting so pathetic (which rantaro knew he wouldn’t do, but the fear was still present anyway), shuichi sat back down.

“shu-shuichi, i can’t take this anymore,” rantaro still had his hands covering his face, but shuichi grabbed one of his wrists and gently moved it aside so the two of them could make eye contact.

“i know, we’re going to find out who did this. just breathe with me, okay? it’s gonna be okay.”

“shuichi…”

“hey, just focus on breathing right now-”

“there’s m-more i didn’t tell you.”

shuichi froze. “what?”

rantaro took a few breaths to calm himself down, before telling shuichi about the threatening message and the knife in his bed, struggling to get the story out without losing it again. when he finished detailing the situations, he looked up to see the detective with morbid fear and sadness on his face.

“i’ll contact detective kirigiri, and we’ll find out who’s doing this, okay? everything will be okay.”

“okay.” rantaro didn’t believe it for a second.

“maki can help you if you need a bodyguard or something. she’s done stuff along those lines before, and she’s trustworthy.”

“nobody’s trustworthy.”

“... i know. but just… you might want to look into protection and stuff, and she can do it for free if you want.”

“money isn’t the issue. i’d give up all my damn money if it meant i was safe. god, shuichi,” rantaro cursed himself for the tears going down his face, each one a failure, “... i don’t want to die.”

“i’m sorry, rantaro.”

rantaro can’t remember how long he sat there, quietly crying as shuichi mumbled reassurances. eventually, kirumi suggested that he goes to sleep, and, despite his protests, rantaro ordered shuichi to go back home, where it would be significantly safer than staying over.

it took him an hour to sleep, even with the melatonin he took. but when he did sleep, it felt less like a release and more like a deathwish.

* * *

rantaro had yet to leave his room after the most recent attempt on his life was made. teruteru and kirumi brought him food and company, but rantaro usually turned them away after a few minutes. shuichi had come over multiple times too, mostly for comfort, but every conversation usually ended with a summary of the case before shuichi reluctantly left.

maki had been staying over, too, which was simultaneously unsettling but also relieving. maki wasn’t exactly the easiest person to talk to, but she was careful with discussing what had happened and usually shifted conversation to something else before rantaro freaked out, which he was grateful for. she also said, albeit vaguely, that she had a dark past that somehow made her an expert in all weapons. rantaro hadn’t questioned further. 

despite the unfortunate circumstances, maki seemed to fit in… well? supposedly, teruteru had made a comment on “her skill with kaito’s knife, if you know what i mean” and, suffice to say, he’s completely terrified of her. though, knowing maki, that should be expected.

although she was scary and not the warmest person, she showed a lot of loyalty to kaito and shuichi, and promised that she would protect rantaro if anything happened.

even with that protection, though, rantaro hasn’t left his room. he asked maki if there was anything unique about the knife that may identify the assassin, and she said that the dagger was perfectly ordinary, which, considering it may be a random hitman doing this, wasn’t surprising.

realistically, nothing bad could happen if he just stayed in the room. but rantaro gradually felt himself going mad with paranoia, and, because of that, made the stupidest decision of his life (that might just end it altogether).

one night, at 4 am, he received a phone call. the voice was heavily distorted, but the caller threatened rantaro pretty heavily, and, judging by their enthusiasm in their words, seemed pretty excited to kill him. after getting shuichi to track the phone to a building and promising to not go there…

… he decided to take a bite from eve’s apple; to find this motherfucker, and figure out who it is. for the sake of his family and friends, who may be targeted as well, and to stop fear from consuming his life. it was a stupid idea, sure, and it was probably suicide at this point, but he had to do this. threats on his life may never stop, but it’s never been this bad and  _ he needs it to stop. _

rantaro stepped quietly out of his room when it was approximately 3 am. he had placed pillows under the covers, so it looked like he was still sleeping there. a lame trick, but it should work due to the darkness in his room. he also grabbed the knife his assassin had used and decided to bring it, along with a pistol.

he knew that maki was positioned outside, teruteru was asleep, and kirumi was probably tidying up the living room, or reading in her room. rantaro’s father had also gotten new bodyguards for the perimeter of the house, but their security check-up, which was now more thorough, pushed their arrival time back. they scheduled to arrive in one days time, so the coast was clear.

rantaro carefully headed out the back doors and slipped out of the house. once he’s away and out the front gate, he pulled up his phone and began navigating his way to the building. surprisingly, the place he’s going to was close by. that’s…. absolutely terrifying.

he quickened his pace and tried to think about something else, due to the anxiety of what might happen becoming overwhelming. he wasn’t going to have a panic attack. and... and he couldn’t call shuichi or maki. 

he’s going to end this.

and he’s not going to die.

it was too soon for rantaro to be standing in front of the place, but here he was. the place seemed nice, but he’s unsure of how he’s never seen it before. the house… more like a castle, honestly, was dilapidated and almost looked like it had been burnt in some areas. 

the terrifying image in front of him was  _ really _ helping him calm down. seriously, this person had so much determination in attempting his life, but couldn’t at least sweep the place? rantaro saw cobwebs and he hasn’t even stepped in.

another important question: this was the home of the person attempting to kill him. was he just supposed to… walk in? it’s not like he’s going to ring the doorbell. well, there was no doorbell, but if there was, that probably wouldn’t be the best decision. 

is he supposed to bust the door open and start shooting? should he say he’s the police?

okay, rantaro, stop laughing like an idiot and walk in.

rantaro took a deep breath, his confusion quickly replacing with panic. then-

then confusion again.

the outside of the building looked so decrepit and old, like at any minute it would collapse. the inside, however, looked almost futuristic. the floor tiles were alternating red and white, and there was decor in crimson, ivory, and black colors. there were two elegant staircases that intertwined together and went upstairs. generally, a pretty nice place.

something was slightly off, though. 

there was no furniture throughout the building, and the area was squeaky clean. there weren’t any signs of human life either. and, the most unsettling of them all: there were paintings on the wall that were rather… gruesome? one resembled a classroom, but there was blood everywhere and dead bodies littering the floor. one figure was standing, and they had long, stringy hair and red eyes.

rantaro instinctively put a hand on his gun, ready to pull it out if necessary. 

as he stepped forward, he found himself mesmerized by the repeating tile. the more he looked down, the more his eyes burned and blurred, and so he forced himself to avert his eyes. when he did, he noticed he was facing a wall, and the curved staircases were far behind him.

on the wall, there was a painting of a girl around his age with a crown, two pink pigtails, and a devilish smile. despite it obviously being a painting, it almost felt like this girl was staring into his soul. he shivered. 

under the girl, there was a small bit of writing that said:

_ junko enoshima, despair! _

“despair?” rantaro said incredulously, “what does that even-”

wait. he recognizes that handwriting.

WATCH YOUR BACK had been written in that same pretty font, albeit more aggressive. 

“what the fuck?” rantaro read the words again, and confirmed that it was definitely the same handwriting.

god, he had come here expecting a standoff with the culprit, not to have a million more questions. what is he even-

even when the chaos of his mind consumed him, he still heard a quiet but weird sound. it almost sounded like… scraping? 

and it was getting louder.

rantaro spun around and stepped back, placing his hand on the wall for support, before he saw a small, tiny object hurling right at him.

out of shock and his obvious instinct to protect himself, rantaro fell on the floor. the ball hit the painting, right in enoshima’s eye, and then crashed back onto the floor, right in front of rantaro.

“what the fuck, what the fuck,” was this ball...meant to kill him? then who…”

his eyes slowly lifted and he made eye contact with soft teal irises, shining with something close to...insanity. she had long blue hair and a schoolgirl outfit, but, despite her attempt on his life…

_ she wasn’t carrying a single weapon. _

those eyes… looked familiar too. 

_ oh. _

_ “i don’t know anything, ms. togami! please, i’m innocent!” _

“w-why?” rantaro whispered, slowly raising his gun up. 

she just smiled knowingly, “it wasn’t just me, y’know? but if you want to know…”

suddenly, her teeth looked sharp, like a cheshire cat, and her chest puffed out with pride, “the whole world wants you dead, rantaro amami! you stole your sister from me, back when i cosplayed as a barista.  _ so boring. _ but y’know, your sister is  _ super  _ cute-”

“don’t you fucking dare.” rantaro found himself saying. 

she smiled wider, “puhuhuh, how adorable! anyway, before you interrupted me,” she cleared her throat and continued, “you entertain the world with your glorious money and looks! you bring the world so much happiness…

“but that’s what this corrupt world truly needs,” she said in a menacing-- and almost patronizing-- voice, “is  **despair** .

“god, rantaro, you made my job plainly easy and suuuuper boring. sneaking into your room and putting the knife there was almost hysterically easy. and the meeting,  _ wow _ , how did nobody notice that i had never been a maid there before?”

“and you still kept sleeping completely unguarded. you practically asked for the last two.”

“so, rantaro amami,” rantaro hated how she said his name, “whatcha gonna do now? i’ve driven you into despair, huh. such a shame. your sister was way more fun to break. it was super entertaining to break up with her-”

with no hesitation, rantaro raised his gun and shoots her in the chest, expecting her to survive and kill him because  _ there’s no way it would end this quickly _ , but… 

she smiled as if this was everything she wanted, clutching her chest, before falling to the ground. in seconds, her eyes glaze over and her pulse is gone. 

silence. too much silence. for a while, rantaro is still. when it feels like hours have passed, he stands up, shakily, and  _ runs _ .

the second he leaves the house, he called shuichi. his fingers shake so much that he can hardly dial the number.

“rantaro?! we’ve been looking for you-”

“shuichi,” rantaro said hoarsely, tears streaming down his face while he breathes heavily.

“rantaro, what’s wrong?” 

“i found them. i found them, and i-”

rantaro took a deep breath in, and when he spoke next, his voice sounded dead and so… hopeless.

“i need you to help me get rid of a body.”

“what? a body? are you insane?”

“probably. but i need you to get rid of the body. bring maki and detective kirigiri. if you have gasoline, bring it too.”

“what the fuck?” he never cusses, but his voice sounded panicked anyway, “rantaro, tell me what’s going on-”

“she knew my sister,” rantaro shouted in reply, adrenaline setting in, “one of them, i don’t know. she was at the meeting, disguised as a maid; she poisoned my drink and she snuck into the party because she has disguises, really good ones, i recognize that voice, god, was she the one who told me to watch out for the arrow?” maybe he was going insane.

“and she said she was doing it because the world likes me and something about despair but she mocked my sister and… and i shot her, and she’s dead and… and i’m not going to prison, shuichi, i can’t.”

“rantaro…”

“please,” rantaro’s voice was practically gone, as he pleaded with his best friend, a detective, who is the most honest person he knows. he shut his eyes, expecting shuichi to say no and turn him in.

“i’ll get kyoko. maki is with me.”

“... do you know where i am?”

“...”

“shuichi?”

“when i tracked the call, you said you wouldn’t go there.”

“i lied. and i’m not sorry.”

“... we’ll be there in five minutes. stay safe. please.”

* * *

rantaro watched as the strange building went up in flames. maki and detective kirigiri stood in front, watching everything burn to the ground. shuichi moved next to rantaro, placing his hand gently on the other boy’s shaking shoulders.

“oh god,” rantaro whispered.

“i know.”

“... what happens now? she’s gone, but there must be others, right?”

“it seems like it was mainly her. you may want to consider staying with me, or moving, or just getting more bodyguards.”

rantaro nodded. he felt as though everything was over, yet it had just begun.

“i’m scared.”

shuichi watched the flames disappear, “i know.”

“i’m so fucking scared.”

“yeah. me too.”

nothing was finished yet. maybe rantaro’s killer was dead, but there were still the questions of which of his sisters had met this girl, and why she had done so much just for despair. even with the explanation she gave, rantaro still wanted to know why. why him. 

he wanted to know why he couldn’t get over it yet. he’s had this before (granted, less severe, and never as insane), so why couldn’t he handle it? why wasn’t he strong enough? 

why did nothing feel complete? 

why did it feel like, though rantaro had killed her… why did he feel like he was the one who died?

_ i can’t do this to myself.  _

he didn’t want to listen to her. he wanted to believe that he did the right thing, that things would be okay. it was all faux positivity and hope, but it was over so he should be happy.

_ just be happy. just be happy. just have hope and it’ll be okay. _

“are you okay?” shuichi asked softly, slipping his hand into rantaro’s. he startled for a second, but shuichi looked at him expectedly, with a certain intensity in his eyes.

“i don’t feel guilty,” rantaro lied, feigning confidence, “i’m glad i killed her. i’m so glad i… i’m...”

“it’ll be okay, rantaro,” of course shuichi saw right through that.

“...don’t you feel bad that you’re holding hands with a killer?” 

“you aren’t a killer. you’re rantaro amami, and you did what you had to do to protect yourself and your family. you aren’t this cold blooded killer, you just wanted to keep people you care about safe. killing isn’t a good thing, but you never would have done it if you didn’t have to,” he hesitated before saying his next words, but rantaro could tell they were genuine, “honestly, i’m proud of you.”

rantaro looked at him, shock evident on his face. shuichi gave rantaro a warm smile and, with some difficulty, rantaro returned it. that only made the other’s smile grow (and it was honestly beautiful). shuichi squeezed his hand as kirigiri and maki stepped away from the scorched ground and turned to look at them.

“ready to go?” kirigiri asked, sympathy present in her usually blank face.

“yeah. sorry for all the trouble.”

“don’t apologize,” shuichi quickly replied. maki nodded in agreement.

“it’ll be one hell of a case to hide, but it’s worth it,” kirigiri gave a small smile.

four shadows stepped away from ashes and despair. with people he trusted at his side, and a soft hand in his, and at least some peace for now…

… rantaro didn’t have to watch his back.

**Author's Note:**

> hi i hope you enjoy the fic !!!
> 
> going to say this right now, since the last part was the epic reveal and stuff, it may be sucky. it took a while to get it all to flow and for the ending to like,,, be hinted at? so i hope you liked it, i'm really sorry if it was bad though.
> 
> i really wanted to do a rantaro-centric fic, because i just love that avocado so much, but i also wanted to do something relating to murder but also an AU. i hope the AU itself doesn’t come off as random. 
> 
> also, the saimami was kinda added more as i went through a re-wrote some bits. i’ll probably make a saimami fic eventually, but i thought putting too much into this fic would make no sense and take away from the subject matter. their relationship is more about support than romance, if you want to think of it that way. 
> 
> one last thing: i never really pictured rantaro as someone who cusses a lot, but it just kinda happened? so sorry if that's like out of character and all that
> 
> comments are always appreciated, and if you have any requests for fics, i really need to inspiration so….
> 
> i hope you are having a great day, and if not, i hope it gets better <3


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